Again, at an intellectual level, no company laid off its way to success. On the other hand, it’s easy for “experts” to say that one must keep innovating when your company is running out of cash since it’s not their necks on the line. There are no magic bullets. It’s just a tough time.

Yes, it is tough but so is climbing Mount Everest. To face the challenges of the new normal one must continue to push forward (i.e., evolve, innovate, etc.) Standing still is not an option.

With that said, coming up with new ideas is half the battle. Some might even say it’s the easy part. For changes to be effective they must be accepted by the organization (and guests) those ideas are being offered to and/or thrust upon. For that part of the process we offer: “Mentor: Inside the Change Studio” by Bill Deam (CIO Magazine, 1 July 2009).

The other significant point mentioned is that shows will be available in both audio and text. In other words, the guest gets to choose the format that fits their moment. We’re looking forward to a new and improved NPR. We hope you are as well.

Btw, the music industry publication Billboard (www.Billboard.com) has also just lauched a new web site. Check it out and let us know what you think.

“Create and Monetize Podcasts on Any Budget” by Mark Underhill (Website Magazine, August 2009). Podcasting might not be the buzz phrase of the moment but despite it’s post-trendiness stature it’s still a great tool to have in the tool box. Audio is simple to produce and manage, as well as adds another dimension to The Guest Experience you offer. The other benefit is that guests can consume your content even when they’re not chained to their monitor.

For those who show further interest, here’s a list of podcast articles from WebsiteMagazine.com. Enjoy yourself!

“What Data Mining Can and Can’t Do” by Allan E. Alter (CIO Insight Magazine, June 2007) The subject of business intelligence (BI) came up in a meeting a couple days ago. The discussion centered around using broad patterns, as well as past behaviors of individuals to make future predictions. This article isn’t new but given the authority of Mr. Peter Fader (who is the interviewee) it will help you properly wrap your mind around this topic.

In short, there seems to be a fair amount misunderstanding when it comes to BI. Well, at least Prof. Fader thinks so.

“Search Engineering” by Jessica Tsai (CRM Magazine, July 2009). Beautiful. The theory is, why chase customers when they can find you? Yes, when done right it can work quite well. Search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and online marketing in general continue to be hot topics. Ms. Tsai does the subject matter justice.

One essential factors that is too often “overlooked” comes in one of the article’s sidebars:

Bad and Ugly SEO
Click fraud in paid search. Some reports indicate that one-third of clicks on paid search are fraudulent—the result of developers creating bots to click on competitors’ ads, raising those competitors’ costs.

We’d also like to add an AU caveat. SEO / SEM is not a panacea. It will not make up for a visually dated web design or a marginal user experience (UX). Nor will it fix a shaky business model, poor customer service, or a second rate product / service. SEO / SEM is a way to attract customers. The question is — Is what your brand puts forward best suited for attracting bees or flys? If you need someone to be your trusted and objective mirror please give us a ring.

“10 Questions for Robert Kiyosaki” by Robert Kiyosaki (Time Magazine, 13 July 2009) The concept behind Time’s 10 Questions is fascinating. For those who are not familiar, Time asks its reader to submit questions for a particular “celeb”, editors pick their 10 favorites, and then those get answered and published. Similar to Letter to the Editor but different.

Do you think anybody can be successful in business? Rogelio Gonzales (Brick Township, NJ)

Absolutely. It takes discipline. Most people would like to have a great body like Charles Atlas, but they’re at Burger King wolfing down a Whopper with fries. I don’t know how you can expect to get anything you want without some degree of long-term commitment. Quitting is the easiest thing to do. That’s why most people don’t make it.

Please take a moment and consume the other nine. In terms of insight and inspiration we promise it will be time well spent.

“Sweet Talker” by Nicole Perloth (Forbes Magazine, 24 June 2009). We hope to be partnering with an organization in a semi-similar space and want to share this short & sweet (pun intended) kiss of inspiration.

“Debunking Innovation’s Buzz” by Larry Bonfante (CIO Insight, June 2009). It’s worth mentioning that Mr. Bonfante is the CIO of the United States Tennis Association (USTA). Pardon the heavy handed cliche but he serves up a couple aces when he notes:

Innovation isn’t some sort of mystical silver bullet that will solve all of our problems. Nor is it some new technology that we can buy and implement. Innovation is about creatively leveraging the tools and processes at your disposal to drive business value.

To drive innovation, you must be open to the reality that a percentage of the things you try will not work out as hoped. As Edison quipped when asked about the creation of the light bulb, “I hadn’t failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Is your organization willing to stub its toe, or will it punish people who take educated risks that don’t pan out?

The bottom line… Get out there… Grab some tools… Jump in… And start to figure out what works and what doesn’t for your situation. “Failures” are simply a down payment on future success. Planning is important but also keep in mind that if the rules are shifting quickly then drilling down to too fine a set of details is not going to be very effective. Finally, when necessary seek out open-mind, forward thinking specialists and leave the chest thumping “experts” where they belong — in the 20th century.

“The Human Element of IT” by Chris Dowse and Dr. Paul Hertz (CIO Insight, June 2009). More or less a follow up to their article in the same publication in May, but applied in a slightly different way. For the non-IT types please look past the IT-centric focus and apply the broader concepts. That is, we are human and who we are effects what we do, how we do it and who best we do it with. If we can understand our strengths (and weaknesses), as well as those of others around us then that is one step closer to the victory circle.

With that said, doing so is not easy because being human has its faults.